Women's Views on News |
| Appalling ‘Back to School’ campaign Posted: 02 Sep 2014 06:15 AM PDT
American Apparel is trying to cash in on the 'naughty school girl' look, despite having had previous ads banned for their 'sexual and objectifying' portrayals of women and girls. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has already ruled that earlier Apparel ads were not to appear again 'in their current form' and told American Apparel 'to ensure that its future advertising contained nothing which was likely to cause serious or widespread offence'. The 'School Days' range, which is aimed at under-18 year-olds and includes the disturbingly named 'Lolita skirt' and 'Lolita top', is the subject of a lookbook featuring young women posing by school lockers. If this wasn't gross enough then a further image was reportedly posted to the company's UK Instagram account, depicting a young model in a very short tartan, school-style skirt bent over a car with the top of her legs and her underwear on show. The image appears to have now been removed from American Apparel's account, but is being circulated on social media. Meanwhile, the 'School Days' lookbook remains on the company's website, telling students: 'Your first assignment is to dress accordingly'. Social media users aren't the only ones criticising the retailer – this latest creepy campaign has been slammed throughout the mainstream UK media. To complain to the ASA, click here and fill in their form.  |
| Posted: 02 Sep 2014 04:05 AM PDT
The majority of women working part-time earn less than the living wage in over 50 local authority areas across Britain, according to research published last week by the TUC. Thursday last week, 28 August, two-thirds of the way through 2014, was effectively the last day this year that women working part-time get paid. This is because they earn just 66p for every pound earned by men working full-time – which is a pay gap of 34.2 per cent. One of the main reasons for this huge gender pay divide is the large concentration of women doing low-paid, part-time work, the TUC said. Across the UK, around two in five part-time jobs pay less than the living wage. But TUC analysis of official figures from the House of Commons Library shows that earning less than the living wage is the norm for women in many parts of the country. In West Lancashire for example, almost three-quarters (73.9 per cent) of women working part-time earn less than the living wage. West Somerset has the next highest proportion of low-paid, part-time female workers, where more than two-thirds of women earn less than the living wage. London has a higher living wage – currently £8.80 an hour, compared to £7.65 across the rest of the country – due to the greater cost of living in the capital. But despite this higher wage, the TUC research shows that there are six local authority areas – Bexley, Newham, Merton, Harrow, Redbridge and Waltham Forest – where most female part-time workers earn less than the London living wage. Watford has the smallest proportion of low-paid, part-time workers. Here, just one in six women (16.9 per cent) working part-time earn less than the living wage. TUC research published earlier this year found that while part-time work is heavily concentrated among low-paid jobs – two-thirds of the 2.6 million jobs in the ten worst-paid professions are done on a part-time basis – top paying professions remain 'no-go' areas for part-time workers. Less than one in seven employees in the ten best paying professions work part-time. With women accounting for almost three-quarters of Britain's six-million strong part-time workforce, the lack of skilled, decently-paid, part-time jobs affects women's pay and their career prospects far more than it does men, said the TUC. The TUC is concerned that despite two years of economic growth, working people across Britain are still suffering the longest real wage squeeze in over a century. Last month, official earnings growth reached its lowest level since records began. For many low-paid workers, smaller pay packets are making it harder to afford essential items such as food, transport and energy bills. The TUC would like to see more employers paying the living wage. This would help tackle the growing scourge of in-work poverty and make big inroads into closing what it sees as the scandalous 34 per cent part-time gender pay gap. The government could lead by example, the TUC said, by ensuring that all Whitehall departments pay the living wage and by using its £140bn annual procurement budget to boost take-up of the wage amongst private companies that win public contracts. The TUC also wants to see more jobs advertised on a part-time basis, ending the requirement that women have to be in post for six months before they have the right to request flexible working. Many women feel unable to ask about the possibility of a shorter working week during an interview for fear it could adversely affect their chances of success, the TUC said. The TUC's General Secretary, Frances O'Grady, said: "Women are bearing the brunt of growing in-work poverty across Britain today. "The living wage was created so that work can provide staff with a basic standard of living. "But in many parts of Britain, most women working part-time are way off earning this. "Women of all ages and skill levels often find themselves trapped in low-paid jobs. "Opening up more senior jobs to part-time working is part of the solution. "But we also need to look at why so many jobs in Britain pay so little when employers can easily afford to pay staff more. "Women would gain most from a greater take-up of the living wage by employers. "But tackling in-work poverty through better wages for our lowest-paid workers helps everyone in the long run as it would help secure a fair and more sustainable economic recovery."  |
| UK’s sport in professional revolution Posted: 02 Sep 2014 01:09 AM PDT
There are now more opportunities for women to make a living in the sport they love. Last week it was announced that the England women's rugby sevens team would be paid to play in the run up to the Rio Olympics in 2016. Twenty women have been offered one-year central contracts by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). These include current England captain, Katy McLean, who will have to give up her teaching job, as will star kicker Emily Scarratt. Marlie Packer, whose job as a plumber has been highly publicised, has indicated she would like to continue in that role in some form, although it is not clear if, under the contract, she will be able to do so. Sevens will make its debut at Rio and it is this that is behind the decision. Nicola Ponsford, the RFU's Head of Women's Performance said in a statement: "We are delighted to be able to offer a full-time sevens programme for next season. "We are really excited by the opportunity and feel that this will enable us to compete on a global level. "The inclusion of sevens in the Olympics has meant that a significant number of sides we are competing against have been full-time for a year or more. "With two years to go until the 2016 Olympics Games we felt this was the right time to move forward." The RFU's move comes only a few weeks after a purely amateur squad in the fifteen-player game, the majority of whom are included in the 20, won the World Cup in Paris. Women's cricket in England has recently seen a similar shift in emphasis. In May, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that 18 players were to receive central contracts and a big pay rise, an action that moved captain Charlotte Edwards to tweet, “Today is a day I never thought I’d see in my time as a player!” Admittedly these two sports only provide a living wage at national level; at regional or club level it can be very different. Football in Britain has provided more professional opportunities than most sports for a considerable time. The league structures may still be developing, but opportunities for payment and progression are numerous. Increased investment by home Football Associations, more sponsorship and better media coverage has meant that the English Women's Super League has been increased to two divisions, while in Scotland the Scottish Women's Premier League is now well established. Things in Wales are looking less sure, with the Welsh Premier Women's League suffering a couple of team withdrawals this year. But at last British players can make a living in their home countries where in the past they had to look to the United States if they wanted a paid career in football. Another sport seeing an influx of women turning professional is golf. Eighteen year-old Georgia Hall is the latest to go down the professional route. Hall has wanted to turn professional for some time, but was worried that she would not be able to earn enough to live on. She has said that she considered £25k, in a combination of competition earnings and sponsorship, the minimum she would need to be able to pursue her chosen career. After a creditable joint 29th place, and her second best amateur finish in the Open this year, she has now taken the big decision to turn professional. “It’s very exciting. I’ve wanted to do this since I was seven," she told the BBC. “I’m finally going to turn pro soon, it means a lot and I cannot wait for the future.” So it really is a mixture of British sport catching up at long last and leading the field. But a good example of a sport lagging sadly behind is women's cycling. At the moment, to make a living, a female cyclist has to go abroad. Sir Dave Brailsford has already confessed his frustration at this and is determined to be in at the creation of Britain's first female professional cycling team. “We’ve got some brilliant female cyclists,” Brailsford told the Independent. “We all are very aware that there needs to be a greater parity, not just in road cycling but across all disciplines, both at Olympic and professional level.” Currently, London 2012 silver-medallist Lizzie Armistead rides for the Dutch team Boels-Dolmans, and Emma Pooley is a member of Lotto Belisol Ladies. Pooley has been vocal in her call for a more professional approach for women for some time. In an interview for the BBC, she said: “There’s nothing that stops women, physically. At the moment it is only a semi-professional sport so at the top level the riders are paid and they ride for time, but a lot of cyclists have to work as well to pay their way so they can’t train for 250km stages." Certainly the big voices of cycling are making themselves heard. The latest to weigh in, Sir Bradley Wiggins, has been quoted as considering financing his own women's team. Obviously, this is only a snapshot of the many, many fantastic sports out there. And, of course, there is nothing wrong with participating in sport merely for the love of it. Let's face it, that's why most of us do it. But if a talented woman wants to pursue her sport as a career, she should, wherever possible, be given the chance. The examples above show it can be done. But the will has to be there, not only from the women themselves, but from the governing bodies (often run by men), the current big names of the sport and the media. I'm going to cite the oft-derided Football Association here. There are so many average to mediocre male footballers earning a fortune in the British leagues, is it really so outrageous to ask that each home nation puts as much effort – and money- into women's grass roots sport, women's leagues and women's national teams? Actually, the Football Association (FA) is showing its commitment, but so many other governing bodies could do better. Come on, governing bodies: take a lead. Show your commitment to women's sport by putting your money where your mouth is. The more we invest in the future of women's sport, the more we get in return. Are we asking for so much? Not every sport can be professional, nor would we want it to be, but where men are professional, there should be the opportunity for women to be too. Football, cricket and rugby are making great strides in this respect. Let's hope there is soon more to come.  |
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